Green Side UP?!

Well, I made it. Last Monday I had my checkride, and I passed, so they gave me the keys. I took the bird out for an hour and a half, all by myself.

It was really great. I had smooth and precise airwork all through the flight, and flew four of the best landing patterns I’ve ever done. Too bad nobody was there to see it!

Last week I got in two more flights doing “precision aerobatics.” It was really a blast, but I didn’t much like what it did to my stomach the first time around. I didn’t barf, but it really didn’t take long before I was feeling pretty lousy, and I didn’t get to do everything we wanted to do on that flight.

But the second one was much better. I still haven’t seen an Immelman yet, but we slugged out an aileron roll, three or four wingovers, at least three tries at a barrel roll, a loop, a half cuban eight, and a demonstration of a spilt-S.

My next flight is a solo. This time, instead of practicing landings at an outlying field, I’ll have an hour and a half to work on my aerobatic maneuvers. I’m not allowed to do a split-S, an Immelman, or a spin, but pretty much anything else is fair game. I was scheduled to fly it today, but it was too windy for solos. Better luck tomorrow, I guess.